Why is it that some comic book adaptations do so well while others do so poorly? Perhaps elements important to a character or story elements are omitted during the adaptation process. Perhaps the nature of the characters or story are changed because of too much original material being forced into the adaptation by the studio or the filmmakers. It could be a desire to build upon the success of a previous adaptation by expanding the number of characters or adapting multiple storylines for the next film in a series. It would not be uncommon for a combination of the previous or other issues to potentially derail a project. Regardless of the motivation, the reach of a studio or filmmaker can often exceed his or her grasp.

"Overreach: To miss by reaching too far or attempting too much. To defeat (oneself) by going too far or by doing or trying to gain too much. To go to excess."

Overreaching can occur in any type of media when creators want to make too many changes or make a story as grand, edgy, or controversial as possible. For the sake of explanation, the focus will remain primarily on overreaching in movies. Overreach can come in many forms and be caused by studio influence, filmmaker control, or poor writers. Keep something else in mind, overreaching does not necessarily mean the end result will be a critical failure or will not resonate with fans. The following are common forms of overreaching that have hurt previous adaptations or may lead to failure if used unnecessarily:

Characters in Name Only

Have you ever watched a movie about your favorite character(s) and most of the things you know about them are gone or are changed to the point you almost don't recognize them? A problem with many studios and filmmakers is a desire to fix what isn't broken or arbitrarily change characters or stories with little regard for how far they stray from the source material in the process. The thought is to aim for what is considered most popular among moviegoers or at least makes the most sense given the visions of the studio and the filmmakers, rather than what works best for the character(s) or the story.

Filmmakers often fail to consider the fanbases of the comics and characters they choose to adapt. Every successful comic gained popularity by providing characters and stories that struck a chord with these fans. So attempting to change them in ways that alienate these fanbases would be a colossal mistake.

Remember: Most people turn their noses up to comics and comic book movies because of stereotypes relating to comic books in general or the characters in particular. Many of these conclusions are reached without reading the related comics or through the prism of a different fandom (DC fans who dislike Marvel Comics, Marvel fans who dislike DC Comics, fans who make excuses for obvious plotholes in their favorite franchises, etc). The most critical of opinions often come from people who have never read comics or have limited exposure to the genre and judge all comic book movies from this experience. Some may even dislike a movie because their peers dislike it and never bother to watch the movie to form their own opinion.

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If a character is virtually unrecognizable by appearance, attitude, and actions when compared to the source material, a filmmaker or studio has gone too far.

Studios and filmmakers find a popular comic book character or a unique or unusual character that might resonate with general audiences and immediately consider what elements to strip or add to the character to appeal to the more critical or jaded film fans. Ideally, a filmmaker or studio should completely understand the comic that a character comes from or be willing to learn more about the character before attempting to create an adaptation. At the very least, filmmakers should use the creators of a comic as consultants and follow their advice.

Studios and filmmakers do not always believe comic book characters and the world's they inhabit will appeal to the average moviegoer. The thought is certain characters may be too bizarre, outdated, or controversial in their current forms, so changes have to be made to make a character or characters more relateable.

The success of films like the Avengers proves that audiences are capable of relating to comic book characters with only the most subtle of changes; major alterations and a heavy emphasis on realism is unnecessary. Characters or groups are often deconstructed and re-imagined to better fit a vision. This could be something as simple as changing a costume, altering bits of a character's history, or changing the members of a superhero groups to remove the more complex, less interesting, or less likeable characters. Unfortunately, the changes do not always end there. Many filmmakers believe the comics are irrelevant and an understanding of the character is unnecessary since they are creating an adaptation.

Because of this cavalier attitude toward the source material, the changes to a character could strip him or her or their identity by completely altering the character model or removing the basic traits the character is known for. Basic traits are the characteristics, attitude, skills, or abilities that a character uses to overcome challenges or form his or her motivations.

For example: Batman's Detective and Forensic skills and his obsessive crusade to personally destroy crime in Gotham City; Superman's small-town values and his desire to save lives under any circumstances; and Spider-Man's spider-sense, super-strength, jocularity in battle, and his desire to face challenges...even as Peter Parker. Failing to consider using the source material as a base reference to build a character is a classic case of adapting a character because of his or her popularity and assuming audiences will accept any changes made based on name recognition alone.

Changing basic traits is unnecessary to adapt a comic book character to another medium, so Batman should act like Batman, Superman should act like Superman, and Spider-Man should act like Spider-Man. A character or characters should remain fundamentally the same despite changes to minutiae like costumes, settings, or minor support characters. If a character is virtually unrecognizable by appearance, attitude, and actions when compared to the source material, a filmmaker or studio has gone too far.

Brooks is a long-time gamer, comic fan, regular blogger, and keeper of vast knowledge...provided he can recall a fraction of it after years of partying and gradual radiation exposure as a Navy Radar Technician.

If you look at the blogs of the editors and many of the members of MyIGN, you will notice they have interesting features like headers, dividers, quote boxes, and links to other blogs or pages. Some of the information is featured here by sng-ign. Fellow IGN member Bluexusion also has a blog that explains many of the features the blog editing function provides for you.

If memes, blog page header instructions, and graphics are something you are interested in adding to your blogs, a great set of instructions has been provided by IGN member WINZEN_TWEEN. If you wish to add the more complex headers and graphics common to review articles and the like, IGN member Battlestriker123 provides a blog that explains the creation process.

The information in the blog by sng-ign might be a bit confusing at first, so some of it will be featured here with a bit more detail. In addition, some of the other features that can be added to your blogs will eventually be featured here as well. You can choose to memorize the codes, follow links to the blogs that feature them, or save the codes in a Word document. Use whatever method makes you comfortable. All of the codes featured have to be entered in their original form before you modify them or they will not work. There is an exception to this rule, but it will be explained later. NOTE: Clicking on the code images will enlarge them for easier viewing.

The first code is for a section header like this:

Flavor Text

The header starts with the following code: {poilib element="articleSubHeader" parameters="label=Flavor Text"}

To change it into the line you see above, you must change the brackets "{" and "}" on both sides of the code to this style "[" and "]" and enter the words you want the section header to say in the spot labeled "Flavor Text". The finished result will look like this:

Once you have the code completed, as shown in the image, you can only see the result when you preview the post or publish the blog. Note: once the code is complete you can copy and paste the same code in a different location in the blog or a different blog, and it will still work. All you have to do then is change the words you want in the title.

The next code is for the accent divider shown here:

The divider starts with the following code: {poilib element="accentDivider"}

All you have to do with this code is change these brackets "{ }" into these brackets "[ ]" and you are D-O-N-E.

The finished code will look like this:

You can copy and paste this and every other code, and they will still work.

The next code is for the byline shown here:

Flavor Text

The byline looks similar to the accent divider, but includes words or a sentence that will be italicized. You can use the byline to briefly mention information pertinent to your blog or a section of a blog. the code looks like this: {poilib element="byline" parameters="text=Flavor Text"}

As with the first code, you change the outer brackets of the code from "{" and "}" to "[" and "]" and include the words or sentence you want to use in the area labeled Flavor Text.

The finished code will look like this:

The next code is for the quote box shown here:

“

Flavor Text

As you may notice, the quote box will appear on the right side of the screen. The information written in your blog near the quote box will temporarily be displaced, but will still be in the normal position before and after the box.

The code for the quote box works the same as the other codes; just change the outer brackets on both sides from these "{ }" to these "[ ]" and place your quote in the area labeled Flavor Text.

The completed code will look like this:

Adding Links To Your Blogs

This section will show you how to create the links people have in their blogs. This one isn't all that hard unless some of the options in the visual section of your post editing screen don't work. If the options do not work, you will have to use the codes, and then it gets a bit more complicated.

To get to the visual page, left click on the tab marked "visual at the top of your editing options. The visual pages gives you many different options not included on the text screen. Please refer to the image below as you go through the explanation.

To turn a particular word or words into a link, it helps to have another screen open where you can copy the web address from or have it saved to a Word document you can copy it from. On the visual page, left click at the beginning of the word or words you want to turn into a link and drag the cursor (arrow) across them until they are highlighted.

If you look at the options at the top of your "visual" page, you will see two symbols that look almost like eights or infinity symbols turned sideways, but upon closer inspection they resemble links of a chain. When you have your word or words selected, they will change a yellowish color when you move the arrow over them. Click on the one on the left labeled "edit/insert link". When you click on the option a second screen pops up that looks like this:

In the box labeled URL, paste the copied web address of the blog, website, article, IGN page, or IGN member's profile screen. In the second box, you can include the title of the blog or article if you know it and you want to.

After entering the information in the box or boxes and clicking on the "add link" button in the second screen near the bottom, the second box will disappear. If you switch back to the text screen, you will notice a weird looking code that includes the web address and the words you turned into a link. This is an example of the code you will have to use to create the links the old fashioned way. Looks like fun doesn't it?

The top example in the image is a link created with a web address and the title include. the bottom example in the image is the web address of a member without the title included.

If you view the link on the visual page, as a preview, or as a published blog, the word or words you selected for the link will be a blue color. A line and the name of the link will appear when you move the cursor over them. Clicking on these words will take to you the web address you entered. Not hard at all is it?

Occasionally, the edit function in your blog system may not work properly; this usually occurs because of maintenance or system updates. Regardless of the cause, some of your editing options might not work. If the "edit/insert link" options fails you have to do it using codes. The end results will look like the above image.

The codes to create links are:

Title and link code:

The words example, name, and word are placeholders, they were only used to make the explanation a bit easier. The second example is the code without the words as placeholders. As you can see, the code is a bit more complicated isn't it?

In the first code, the title of the blog, article, or website goes in the space marked "example". The web address goes in the space marked "name". The word or words you want to turn into the link go in the space marked "word".

The second code works exactly the same way; the placeholders are just not included.

Link code without title:

In the first code, the web address goes in the space marked "example". The word or words you want to turn into a link go in the space marker "word".

Altering the Size of Images (manually)

The blog system allows you to select different sizes for the images you choose before adding them to your blogs. However, you have a preselect range of sizes to choose from. These size limitations can be problematic if you want your images to be a particular size, and the ranges the system provides are not enough. You are also not guaranteed to find the same image in a smaller size using various search engines. The more artistic and experienced among us may use their own editing software to create their own images, but for the less tech savvy or less creative among us, that's not an option.

The blog system allows you to reduce the size of your images manually, so you can get that "just right" size range. To begin the process, upload an image you want to change. Something to keep in mind: You can always use the size selection feature prior to adding your images and still alter their sizes after you place them within your blogs. Let's use this one.

This image is currently medium sized w=300 x h=225. The original size was 500x375, and there is a thumbnail size at 150x150. We will use the 300x225 size because it will be easier to show the differences in sizes between the original size and the new size that way.

To begin manually reducing the size of your image, you must first select the visual tab on your editing screen. The visual tab will display the text and images (image locations may vary in relation to the text if they are posted as non-centered) you have in your blog in the form they will take when published; the Poilib elements and any embedded videos will only appear in their code forms, so do not panic if you are editing your images after the blog has already been published.

On the visual screen, scroll through your post until you find the image you want to reduce. Once you find the image, move your cursor over it and left-click on your mouse.

Your image should be surrounded by eight little white boxes that form a border around it, and there will be two little squares that appear in or near one of the corners. These are options for deleting or changing the size of your image. The second option with the red circle is self-explanatory when you run your cursor over it.

The first of the two options takes you to another image editor function that provides you with most of the same tools you used to originally add an image to your blog. It also gives you more size ranges you can use to make your image smaller; you can reuse this option to return to a larger size if you do not like the result.

Once you've made your changes, just select "update", and you're all set.

We aren't quite done yet. If you find the image editor too intimidating or if you're really adventurous, you can change the size of your image without it. To do this, you left-click on the image as you did before and look for the eight little white boxes surrounding the image.

To begin changing the image, move your cursor to one of the little white boxes, left-click on it and move the box inward. Theses boxes will change the height and width of the image. Note: Using the boxes on the corners of the image gives you considerably more control over the size of the image.

As you change the size of the image, the height and width will appear in the image and change as you alter it; you can use these changing numbers to guide yourself more accurately to the size you want. Once you have the image where you want it, just stop dragging the cursor and "click" anywhere on the edit page away from the image to end the editing function. Here is an example of a much smaller version of the same image.

You can actually reduce the size of your images by locating the sizes within the code that appears in your blog and making the height and width numbers smaller. While this method works, it requires a lot of trial and error, and the results often end up looking like awfully substandard samples if you're not careful.

While we're on the subject of changing sizes, you can actually make your images larger. It starts out pretty much the same as before by going to the visual screen on your editing page, locating the image, and left-clicking on it to enable the editing feature.

Ignore the edit and delete boxes, left-click on one of the white boxes surrounding the image, and drag the box outward until the images expands to a size you wish to use.

You can expand the size of nearly any of the images you use. The only drawback to this method is the larger you make the image, the more resolution the image loses; certain images may also become distorted depending on how they are adjusted. Note: This technique is not very effective if you manually increase the size of the height and width numbers within the image code.

Adding Emoticons

Adding emoticons to emphasize how you might feel or to indicate what emotion a sentence or paragraph is imparting to a reader is as simple as adding a space after a sentence and using a combination or symbols or a particular word.

Here is a collection of handy codes: (Please note: these emoticons currently only work in blogs or on the Boards in their image and animated forms.)

lol, oops, cry, and roll are animated

The following Emoticons work in the blogs and on the Boards:

Adding Pizzazz to Your Comments

Many people do not realize that some of the options used when creating blogs will work when you leave comments on IGN. Here are few examples of common options people use.

Bold - < b > the words you use < /b >

Italics - < i > the words you use < /i >

Underline - < u > the words you use < /u >

Strike through - < s > the words you use < /s >

B-quote - < blockquote > what you want to quote </blockquote>

Note: space was included between the symbols to see the code. Remove the space or the codes will not work.

There are considerably more ways to spice up your blogs and your comments; expect the blog to be updated to include more information in the future.

MyIGN is, arguably, one of the best social communities on the Internet for gamers and other assorted hobbyists. I've had a profile on IGN since February 2010. I wrote a few blogs and dropped a few comments since then, but I didn't participate regularly until December 2011. So I'm currently starting my third as completely active member.

Despite how friendly and accommodating the community can be, it still took me a while to learn the "layout" and get comfortable. To be honest, this place can be a bit intimidating because you want to get involved immediately, but you don't want to make a bad impression. It also helps to know what some of the links here do. It's for that purpose that I, with the cooperation and support of other members, am providing this information to make your entry into the MyIGN community much easier. You should check out the other links not discussed in this blog, at your leisure, to see what they offer you.

This one from lunastark is not quite as verbose as some of the others, but it still has useful information. There is an example of an introduction blog from lunastark later in this blog.

The first thing to do is become familiar with some of the links you'll find on your profile.

Profile/My Profile/Activity

These links takes you to your profile or home page if you are using any of your other links. If you are viewing any of the features of another members account, you can use their "activity" link to go to their home page. Your profile provides other useful links that you should take time to familiarize yourself with.

"People" and the two follower buttons take you to the follower page; you can check who you follow and who follows you. If you go to another user's account (someone you follow, who follows you, or a stranger) and use these buttons, another options shows the people you mutually follow.

The follower link is a good way to see if you are following people who follow you; if you are following them a green check mark should be in the "follow" box next to the person's user name and last posted update.

Blog is pretty self-explanatory. If you are new to blogging it can take a while to get used to the system. Fortunately, you have a community full of users who are more than happy to offer assistance; the tutorial system could be better, but it works.

Games is the link where you display the games that interest you, ones you may want to purchase, and the ones you have in your collection. Just find the games you are looking for on IGN and follow them; they will appear under your games link. You can rate the games you follow on a scale of 1-10. Using the "games" link on another member's account allows you to see their list.

The other links are easy to figure out if you click on them, but a really important one is "Newsfeed".

The newsfeed is where you will find the updates from MyIGN users that you follow. Anytime someone you follow follows a game, follows a person, writes a comment, updates a wiki, posts a blog, updates their player card, or just posts a message it shows up here. The top of the newsfeed has links similar to the ones on your home page. The newsfeed will normally show the activity of people who participate over a given amount of hours. Click on the "more updates" link to display previous information.

An important link in the newsfeed is the "Blog" link. What makes this link so special is it displays all of the blogs that have been written by people you follow within a specific time frame; I have seen blogs going back as far as two weeks. The updates on the blog page in your profile show the most recent five blogs. The blog link under updates allows you to find blogs that you may otherwise miss. Even I have to remember to use it on occasion. You won't be able to see your own blogs here.

Tips for introducing yourself to the community

When you join the community, you cannot expect members to look for you, you have to reach out to them. It's not that members don't care about new people, but the only way we have of knowing you're here is if you reach out to a member or do something that makes it easy to notice you.

One way to find members to introduce yourself to is to locate the blog section of the website (move your cursor over the double arrow link on the right side of the main page; click on "Blogs" when the link appears).

The better way is to use the lower search bar on your profile page marked "Search for people you know". I usually type in "IGN super stars", but whatever you type in the box will take you to a page that lists all the IGN editors and a link marked IGN Super Stars. This link lists the members of the community who provide the most content or are the most active. The lists starts with the highest level members and counts down through the rest. You can always follow one of these individuals and comment on their blogs to get their attention. Many of them will give you advice on how to get started if you're willing to ask.

By all means, write an introduction blog so people get to know more about you. Don't feel obligated to be very thorough; reveal only the information you feel comfortable sharing. Try to formally introduce yourself, let people know what brought you to the community and made you want to participate, and share a bit about your interests. Most of us find out you're here when another member comments on your blog and welcomes you to the community; we will often follow suit.

Keep in mind, you don't have to add as much detail as any of these members did. It doesn't have to be particularly elaborate, but try not to just write a title saying "I'm new" and then don't provide any substance. You're perfectly within your rights to do so, but a lot of members don't respond very well to troll accounts or spammers. They tend to get ignored; you don't want to be considered one if that isn't your intention. Share only the information you want until you feel more comfortable here; no one will hold it against you. You can always post a new blog with more information later.

Sometimes it may take a while for us to find you when you first start to participate, but don't be discouraged. Please make a sincere effort to reach out.

Things to consider when you're ready to start participating

A special shout-out to Battlestriker123 for reminding me to include some other useful information and member tips. He's another great member who can offer useful advice if you're willing to ask.

Don't be in a hurry to be relevant.

It's understandable to want to make an immediate impact when you join the community and begin to participate, but consider your actions carefully. Things you do can be easily misinterpreted.

Following.

There's no real rules to following or determining who to follow. Each person should use whatever method they feel comfortable with. I usually look for blogs that interest me and start by following these individuals. Oftentimes, some of these people have followers or people they follow that could be just as interesting as they are. I found quite a few of the people I follow by using this method, and I consider many of them friends.

Try not to follow a massive amount of members at one time when you start choosing who you want to follow. I can't really tell you what to do, but this is a common technique spammers use or it comes across like you're in a hurry to be popular by getting people to return follows. Trolls also follow a similar pattern, but many of the "people" they follow turn out to be dummy accounts they open for themselves. Some members don't mind as much if a new member follows a large number of people upon joining the community, but a lot of members might mistrust your motives and not follow you.

The best way to gain followers is to participate, comment on blogs (don't troll or otherwise be obnoxious), post interesting blogs, and be friendly. Having a high number of followers is meaningless if the majority of them don't interact with you; taking your time getting to know people in the community means the followers you gain will appreciate you and what you bring to the community more.

By the way, you gain one point toward your member level for each member you follow; up to a maximum of five points per day. This is one of many incentives members have for participating as often as possible. Don't let a desire to gain points stop you from following more members; you never know, those extra members you follow might become mentors, partners during multiplayer sessions, or good friends. Don't pass up the opportunity.

Note: You can change your account settings to prevent members who do not follow you from commenting on your blogs. Some members use this method to limit commenting to members they are familiar with and to discourage people who aren't as interested in their blogs from commenting. Other members use this method to try to boost their follows. While you are well within your rights to use this method, it is not recommended you do this if you are a relatively new member. A well written can blog attract people from all over IGN. Many of these people are willing to leave comments and then follow you or try to engage you in a conversation and follow you based on how you respond. How you come across to other members can be more important than your blogs, Wiki contributions, or any other activities you engage in. Remember, jerks can contribute just as much as any other member.

Important: Following someone does not necessarily mean they are going to follow you. Members tend to follow you most often if they enjoy your blogs, if your participation in the community is noteworthy, if you're new to the community and they want to help you get started, you comment on their blogs often, they need an opportunity to gain points, or after they have observed your behavior and consider you to be a friendly and productive member. Other members may return your follow after you follow them, but do not get in the habit of expecting this type of courtesy because you will eventually run into a member who may not return your follow.

People will not follow you after you follow them for a variety of reasons; you do not participate enough, they may observe you harassing or annoying another member, you are an obvious spammer or appear to be a spammer, or your profile has virtually nothing in it (these are often troll accounts or look like one). If you show up immediately after a person with a similar username is banned or blocked, members will be wary of you until they can confirm you're not the same person or your behavior is different from the previous person.

It goes without saying that most of the editors will not follow you. It's nothing personal because they often have 1000's of followers and couldn't possibly keep track of a large number of followers while handling their other responsibilities, so if an editor follows you, it's because you made a strong impression with them. Also be advised that there are members in the community who may have large numbers of followers, but they only follow a few members or may not follow any members at all.

Remember: Members have a right to follow as many or as few members as they want. So don't take it personally if you follow members, and they do not follow you. The last thing that needs to happen is for you to become offended for not getting an immediate return follow, and then confront the member(s) because you feel they are somehow insulting you. Doing this only confirms the member(s) made the right choice by not following you before trying to learn what type of person you are and what you bring to the community.

Blogging

When it comes to blogging, write about things that interest you or you think are important. Resist the urge to try to write like everyone else to gain popularity; it's difficult to stand out and show what makes you special if you're the same as dozens of other members. Also, feel free to share your opinions on games, movies or anything else.

Some members may take questions and requests to cover certain topics or offer opinions. There's no real limit on what you can talk about, but refrain from including obscenities in your blogs; we do have community standards you know. You can point out things that occur in the community you think may be a problem, but avoid using your blogs to name and viciously flame any particular member(s) you disagree with or come across like they have something against you; that's a great way to get yourself banned. Remember: many of us share common interests, but we may not necessarily share the same opinions. Disagreements are not uncommon when we blog about our opinions. Try to maintain civility when responding to comments; an open-mined discussions allows everyone to come out of it a bit more enlightened.

Sometimes a blog you write might not get very many comments; other times, your blogs might not get any comments. There are any number of reasons for this. You may be new to the community and wrote a few before other members realized you were here. Members may have several followers who write blogs and the "Latest Posts by Friends" section on their personal blog page may have updated too quickly. The Latest Posts by Friends displays the blogs of people you follow; it always shows the five most recent. So if 10 people you follow write blogs, you will only see the five most recent ones. This is why it is important to be familiar with the blog link on the main page and the blog link under the newsfeed section.

People may not read or comment on your blog because too many members have already blogged about the same subject. People tend to avoid blogs that are written as one long wall of text; they are hard to read because it's too easy to lose your place. Paragraphs are your friend, and they increase readability. People may not comment on blogs because the material is complex, and they are not sure how to respond. People also just might not like the material. There are any other number of personal reasons a person may have to avoid reading or commenting on a blog.

The thing to remember is not to let a small number of comments or no comments on a blog discourage you from writing or participating in the community. I currently have 316 blogs available for view (not including this one), and still have blogs with a low number of comments on them. No matter how much effort you put into a blog, there is no guarantee a lot of people are going to like it. If you search well enough, you can find articles on IGN and personal blogs from IGN editors that do not get a lot of comments. So don't take it personally and don't stop blogging.

Adding Extra Features to Your Blogs

It would defeat the purpose of giving you advice to improve your blogs without also giving you a guide to make your blogs look a bit more interesting. Everything you need to help you get started can be found if you follow this link. This information shows you how to add the headings and dividers you see in this blog and the articles on IGN. It also provides links to other blogs that show you how to add the more complex features like blog page headers, the IGN review graphics (if you like writing your own game reviews), a survey box (if you want readers to make choices), and custom made memes.

Featuring Member Blogs on IGN

IGN editors are also active members of the community and will occasionally select member blogs they consider interesting and informative and have them featured on the main page.

Write every blog like it might be featured on the main page; not for the purpose of having it featured there, but for readability and grammatical accuracy. That way if it does happen, people are less likely to subject you to criticism. Write the blog in Word, use spell check and proofread. Take a break prior to proofreading. Giving yourself time to emotionally disconnect from what you just wrote makes it easier to spot mistakes. Try to avoid walls of text or just putting things in your blog for the heck of it.

Like a song, game trailer, movie review, or even want to use this to promote your videos? Put a link to it, but it is best you also put some text on it, add credit to who owns it, title it correctly (If it isn't yours don't fake it). Most people can tell when you are faking it. Instead, say who made it, why you enjoyed it, and even consider telling the person who made the original content about it.

Try to stick with a pattern of posting blogs like daily, weekly or monthly. You can post whenever you feel like it, but people are more likely to check your blogs out if you follow some sort of release schedule.

And finally don't feed the trolls, or do but be wary how you approach this. The statement "Haters gonna hate" could never be more fitting than on the Internet. It doesn't help when you are posting on a site that has some very opinionated fans from all sides of gaming and pop culture. Instead of getting all defensive and trying to tell the other person why you are better, be the better person. If someone posts something mean about you or just replies in a harsh tone you have two main choices:

Leave the comment alone, downvote it and report it if it is that bad.

Make use of it. If it is constructive criticism or even the random Grammar Nazi, they may seem annoying now but when you have over 9000 followers, you'll probably be thanking them later.

So the IGN community is too big, and I am new to blogging; what should I talk about? For starters, the best blogs are where people are themselves. That may mean that some contain cursing, violence, sexual innuendo or sexy photos but you have to be careful where you draw the line. Yes, IGN respects our differences. But No, IGN doesn't support pornographic or hateful posts against anyone.

Also after making a blog, do what the Internet is best for; share it. Share it everywhere you can. Use your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Google + accounts; people do use those. (Making sure your writing is error free makes more sense now, doesn't it?) Why not try using the platform you are already on; share it on MyIGN. Try to avoid spamming people's walls with your blogs (unless they give you some indication it's okay), or adding misleading titles like Halo 6 Gameplay and Rick-rolling everyone. Because you will get what you trick people into, a lot of hate.

So try to be yourself, have fun, and compliment other community members; who knows, maybe one day you will be writing about your gaming or hobby related experiences as a career.

This not to say that we have always followed our own advice. There have been many times where bloggers have fed the trolls, posted blogs whenever they have felt like it, and sometimes did not provide sources for all the information used. If that is the case, why give you this advice? Simple, it is easier to learn from another member's mistakes than make them yourself and get called out on them.

Another reason to consider this is many members are high school or college students, work at jobs or in careers where accurate writing is necessary, or are practicing for careers in Journalism (gaming or otherwise). It isn't all that serious for just blogging in the community, but following the advice that was given does improve your credibility when you write.

Knowing this, some new members may be tempted to write blogs they believe are main page material or harass the editors to get attention for their work. This is a very quick route to disappointment. Do not blog for this purpose; blog because you want to share things you think are interesting. The few members who have had blogs featured are not guaranteed to have another blog featured, and many of theses members tend to write blogs of comparable quality. You could be a member of the community for months or even years and never have a blog featured, don't let having a blog featured on the main page be your motivation for blogging or participating in the community.

Community Nomination (COMM NOM) For the IGN Spotlight

Every Wednesday, members of the community submit nominees for the COMM NOM and other members submit their own nominees or vote for a nominee already submitted. The COMM NOM is sponsored by fellow member and Moderator Lost_In_Translation

The winner for each week's voting cycle has his or her username added to a list of previous winners and may be featured on the main page.

Winners are not guaranteed to be featured on the main page; the Community Manager reserves the right to decide when or if a person nominated can be featured. The Community Manager can also feature a member of the community of his choice. The COMM NOM has a specific purpose:

The winner answers a series of questions and provides information that allows other members to know more about them. The COMM NOM is not and never has been a popularity contest; it's just another method of introducing members of the community to other members who may not have realized they were participating regularly. Notice all the useful links and options mentioned in the blog? Quite a few of us here do not always pay attention to them like we should. So it is very possible for a member to be here months, even years, and never get noticed by a large number of other members. This does not mean they will go unnoticed, but it does mean it might take a bit longer for people to begin appreciating what they bring to the community; the slow response to you can be a bit discouraging, but do not give up.

It is not unusual for newer members of the community to be recommended as nominees for the COMM NOM; however, earning the COMM NOM or the Spotlight should never be a member's motivation for blogging or participating in the community. Again, aiming for quick recognition and not earning it has discouraged many new members who could easily have won if they had participated in the community like everyone else and not obsessed over trying to win.

Some of the most popular and active members of the community have never won the COMM NOM. The last thing a new member, or any member for that matter, wants to do is petition other members to recommend them or complain about not being considered; these methods are guaranteed to annoy other members and get you overlooked. Everyone has something they can contribute to the community, so it isn't necessary to win anything or earn any special accolades to be considered a valued member. If you make a sincere effort to get involved in the community, you will eventually be noticed and followed by quite a few members. It may take some time occasionally, but it will happen; just be patient.

Blocking a Member

Whenever you get different people from different backgrounds with different interests and attitudes together in the same place, you have the potential for misunderstandings and disagreements. There are also the occasional situations where people will blatantly cross lines to serve their own agendas or allow a difference of opinion to anger them to the point where they begin harassing members. Unless the problem is so severe that moderators have to intervene and ban a member, the block feature can put an end to the situation; at least on your profile.

The "Block" feature prevents a blocked member from posting comments on your profile wall or your blogs; the "Block" feature will also automatically cause you to "unfollow" the member you select. Blocking does not prevent the member in question from commenting on the profiles or blogs of other members where you might.

To gain access to the block feature, you must first enter your account settings page. You can access this area from nearly any page on IGN. Just "click" on the "My Stuff" link at the top of the page just below you avatar and then "click" on "account settings".

The Block feature is located in the Privacy Settings area located near the bottom of your account page.

To block a member, merely place their name in the space marked username and "click" on the red Block button next to it. Make sure to enter the username properly or the feature will not work. Note: The system will not accept a username if it is misspelled. It is best to copy and paste the member's username from their profile page because the spelling will be correct and any capitalized letters or numbers will be in the correct places.

When the username is entered correctly and the Block button is pressed, a "Successfully blocked" message should appear next to the Block button. The members username will appear under the Blocked Users area. There will be a red "X" just before the blocked username; this feature is important and will be explained a bit later. Once you see the above message, "click" on the red box marked Save Changes to complete the process. Do not panic if the username disappears after saving or if you leave the page and return again, the member will still be blocked. The option just above the Save Changes button is self explanatory.

Note: You can block a member another way. This method is often accidental, but works better than using the option on the account setting page.

During conversations on a profile wall or in the newsfeed, moving your cursor over a member's username causes a Block option to appear just below it. This option allows you to immediately block a member who is harassing or annoying you. Unfortunately, there have been several instances where members seeking to view all the replies in a conversation have clicked on the Block option by mistake. It can be somewhat problematic, but do not panic, you can correct this situation.

Do not attempt to access another member's profile from a conversation thread on a wall or the newsfeed; the system will almost always interpret the action as blocking the member.

Note: You can also access another member's profile wall by typing http://people.ign.com/ + the member's username in the address box at the top of the screen or you can just delete the username portion of the current web address from the address box, write a different username in it, and go to the new profile page.

Change the username portion

Unblocking a Member

Regardless of the circumstance that cause you to block a member, the system also gives you the option to unblock them. To unblock a member, you have to follow the same procedure you would use to block the on your account settings page. You follow all of the steps to block the person except saving your changes after blocking them.

You're probably thinking "why am I using the blocking procedure if I'm trying to unblock a person?" The reason you have to do this is because you first have to tell the system who it is that is blocked and enabled the Unblocking option. See the red "X" next to the members username you blocked? That red "X" is the link that allows you to unblock the member after you let the system know who the member is.

After you click on the red "X", you should receive a "Successfully unblocked" message next to the Block button. The member has now been unblocked; all you have to do now is click on Save Changes and the process is complete. Remember: Blocking a member for any reason automatically makes you unfollow them, so you have to remember to follow them again after you unblock them.

A Few More Tips

Many of our community members have interests independent of their participation here; game design, small businesses, video streaming, game reviews on personal websites, YouTube videos, etc. The community is not opposed to participating in these events or members occasionally promoting them here because these activities often require community participation and said members still participate independent of their outside interests. What we do frown upon is members who create profiles for the purposes of promoting their side projects and not interacting with the community independent of them.

We find that tasteless and disrespectful of our hospitality. You are free to use your profile however you wish, provided it does not violate community standards. Many members are likely to avoid following and interacting with you if your content amounts to nothing more than spam blogs advertising and promoting products or spam websites in the newsfeed. If you run a gaming review or movie review website or you create gaming or movie related videos, share some of the content in the community as part of your regular participation. The community benefits from your content and participation, and your independent interests gain more attention; we all win because everyone gets something out of it.

The profile pages of other members are designed to leave messages for them. A occasional friendly message for someone new, someone you follow or someone who follows you isn't a bad thing; resist the urge to leave blog notifications in these areas unless you know the person has no problem receiving them. Most members tend to post updates in the newsfeeds to leave messages for followers; you can respond to messages here. Many users here use Skype, Twitter, Facebook, or other methods for personal or group communication. Consider using one of these methods to talk to members who are willing to communicate with you regularly.

Many users sponsor activities that can make things fun and interesting in the community. There's a massive amount of things that go on, so there's way too much to include here.

Please, please, please do not let months go by without updating your status. Many members routinely go through their list of "follows" and look at the status of the people they're following. If they see a status that hasn't changed in a while (every member has different parameters; 4-6 months is common) they assume the person is no longer active and "unfollow" them. That means the hard work, time, and creativity you used to get people to trust and follow is undermined because you neglected to post a few words in that white rectangular box (under the newsfeed link) that says, "What's on your mind?"

It doesn't have to be something fancy; "hello" is more than enough. Note: Commenting on blogs, "following" new members or games, posting blogs, updating gamer tags, or responding to the updates of other members WILL NOT update your status. So you could be very active and because your status is not updated, people "following" you might assume you're inactive and cut you loose.

If a member is giving you a hard time for some reason, you can always use the block feature in your profile options to keep them from commenting on your blogs, profile, or updates. The moderators are also available to offer you suggestions and opinions on how to deal with people giving you a hard time. The Mods have the power to have troublesome members sent on temporary or permanent "vacation", so please refrain from harassing other members. The Mods generally only consider banning a member as a last resort and the member's actions are consistently hostile or disruptive.

Special Note:

You only get results here by taking the risk to put yourself out there in the community, showing mutual respect for other members, and giving other members your support. If you're willing to ask them, the experienced members of the community will offer advice to help you, but it's up to the member receiving the advice to do the rest; you rise or fall on you own after that. However, this does not mean the door will be closed on you if you need additional advice.

That's all it takes for any new or returning members who really tried to get involved or aren't doing all that well. Don't be in a hurry to be relevant, don't harass other members, don't be afraid to ask for help, and don't be a jerk. Never stop participating no matter how long it hard it seems to be taking to get noticed (we can't find you if you don't follow us, comment on blogs, and participate, but have respect for the rights of other members and don't be a troll or a jerk because that will get you blocked or ignored) and be sincere when you do.

Being blocked or ignored doesn't mean it has to be that way as long as you're a part of the community. Most of the members here can be very forgiving because disagreements and misunderstandings can happen between any number of us at the most unexpected times. Just be willing to talk if it's just a misunderstanding, discuss the issue if it's a disagreement, or suck it up and apologize if you harass someone or fail to respect their personal boundaries. Note: Sometimes it may take a little time for things to cool off; it all depends on the line that was crossed, the severity of the incident, and the willingness of the offended to forgive. Unless you're proven to be a scumbag in your regular life, there are not that many cases of members who weren't willing to mend fences.

Once more I go exploring through my various picture files to discover images that I have collected and have often forgotten about. Yet again, I found a file I had saved from my old ASUS computer before it took a dirt nap. I didn't have any particular plans to use these, so feel free to make use of a few.